Oishi Yoshio: A Ronin motorcycle for Pikes Peak

When we featured the Ronin 47 motorcycle a year ago, it quickly became one of the most popular bikes ever to appear on the site. So we’ve given it a starring role in the new book The Ride: 2nd Gear.

Most builders would be happy to sit on their laurels after such a successful launch, but not Magpul. They decided to turn the Ronin into a race weapon, and set their sights on the Pikes Peak hillclimb—one of the most difficult and dangerous competitions in the motorsport world.

A call was put in to Travis Newbold—a man who knows the Peak so well, he’s won it on a 450cc dirt bike. And then work started on a new version of the Ronin, this time powered by the EBR 1190RX motor, rather than the Buell 1125.

The bike was christened Ōishi Yoshio—after the samurai leader of the 47 Ronin—and was hand built by technician Johnny Schwaig and his team. And, as might be expected, every change to the production model was designed to reduce weight and maximize power.